


Racing Hearts

by stonepoet



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Clexa, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-12 08:59:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13544019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonepoet/pseuds/stonepoet
Summary: Clark is an ex-med student new to Polis University in order to study art. She is trying to live her own life away from her mom when she runs into Lexa, a rough girl in a biker gang. Slow burn. Might include some Raven/Octavia later. First fic and I suck at summaries





	1. Chapter 1

Stepping out onto the porch, the blonde squinted in the sunlight briefly before flipping her sunglasses down from where they had been perched on her head. She took a deep breathe and scanned the horizon. From where the dorm was on the hill she could see most of Polis University. The huge green fields swept down to the center of campus where the student center and most of the academic buildings were located. Everything was so pretty, it was like an artist's dream. Clark couldn't help but smile slightly to herself. 

"I'm finally here." She mumbled to herself as she took it all in.  
Suddenly the phone in her pocket vibrated jolting her from her staring. Seeing the name on the phone, she rolled her eyes even as the gesture was covered by her glasses.  
"I'm here and O is no where to be found. Figures"  
She quickly unlocked the phone to read the text message from her best friend. 

Octavia: Griffin! Are you here?  
Clark: Of course I'm here. I am on schedule. My best friend is currently MIA tho  
Clark: You know? The one who was supposed to help me move all my stuff in?  
Clark: So I'm currently taking best friend applications.  
Octavia: You know I love you Griffin! And you could never replace me.  
Octavia: I am sorry. My practice ran long.  
Octavia: So where are you? I'll come help you finish unpacking.  
Clark: I'm at my dorm. The big one on the hill. I forgot the name.  
Clark: And O I already finished unpacking. Its kinda been hours.  
Clark: Doesn't that mean you owe me??  
Octavia: Yes Yes I owe you. I get it.  
Octavia: And you mean the Tower. Ok, I'm headed that way. See you soon

Clark just shook her head and slipped her phone back in her pocket. She didn't blame her friend for not making it to help her unpack. Lacrosse practice always kept the young player fairly busy. 

Octavia Blake had been offered several scholarships out of high school for soccer. She had picked Polis University because the coach, Indra , was well known for her well organized and aggressive team play. Clark had heard all about her from Octavia. The smaller girl basically worshipped the ground the grouchy coach walked on, even when she was complaining about the workouts that to Clark's "anti-unneeded exercise mentality" sounded almost abusive. She figured O probably had been held up at a brutal practice; she wasn't one to skip out on physical labor. 

Clark decided she would go sit in the grass field along the side of the dorm on the other side of the parking lot. She had her book bag with her that contained her most important items. She wasn't much of a purse person so her book bag had her wallet and student ID, along with her keys, phone charger, and a few other knick knacks. Being an artist, she also almost always had her sketchbook with her. She fumbled around, pulled her headphones from her pocket and started her favorite playlist, that she used when she was drawing. She shifted the bag higher on her shoulder and started toward the parking lot. 

Clark had so many things on her mind, she wasn't paying attention as she made a move to cross the parking lot. Stepping out from between two cars, she suddenly noticed a blur out of the corner of her eye. The next thing she knew, she was jumping forward to avoid whatever it was and something hard hit her in the leg. She tried to catch herself as she fell forward and while her hands slowed her impact, her chin did make contact with the asphalt. 

Lexa shook her head, trying to get her bearings. She wasn't sure what had happened. She was riding through the parking lot after finishing some paperwork for the college. Now it seemed she was on the ground. She looked around finding her bike basically buried in the bushes to the side of the lot. Now she remembered. Someone had walked out in front of her. She had swerved trying not to hit them. She sat up and groaned as her body protested from its sudden impact with the ground. She tried to further take in her surroundings and see how bad the damage was to both her and her bike. One of the first things she noticed was that her helmet had cracked its face plate making it difficult to see much from the spiraling fractures covering the glass. The second thing she noticed was the girl laying a little in front of her to the right. 

Sliding off her helmet and shaking her hair out, Lexa assessed how her neck felt making sure everything was just sore and not worse off. She noticed that her fingers were scraped up but that her gloves had protected her hands from most of the impact. She rolled her shoulders before noticing a fairly large amount of blood staining her jeans.  
Great just great, she thought. She was starting to get a little worried that the blonde girl wasn't moving when suddenly the girl moaned and sat up on her knees. 

Clark sat up on her knees and was immediately aware of her injuries. Her hands stung and dripped blood and chin was doing the same. Her medical training kicked in and she touched her face, tracing the cut on her chin and knowing it wasn't bad but would bruise. She took a look around and her eyes were drawn to a brunette girl dressed in lots of black and leather sitting just behind her. Before she could notice anything else besides her basic dress and how beautiful she was, Clark noticed the blood. Again her medical training kicked in and she immediately shuffled over to the girl and started looking her over. 

"Hey, Hi I'm Clark Griffin. Are you okay? You're bleeding a lot so just sit still and let me look at you."

The other girl just looked at her with questioning eyes and didn't say anything. Clark knew she looked a bit scary with blood dripping down her face but her injuries weren't bad overall. She really needed the girl to talk though so she could assess her mental state and if she was going into shock. 

"Hey what's your name?"

She kept looking the girl over waiting for an answer while she tried to assess how many injuries she had. She could tell her fingers were raw just like her own but not as bad. She could also see a bump on her head but no blood. The helmet sitting beside her must have helped her there. Then she moved down her torso but while it had blood on it she couldn't find any cuts. 

"Are you a EMT or something?"

"Hey she can talk." Clark smiled at the girl. "What hurts? Where are you hurt?"

"I think it's my leg that’s doing all the bleeding."

"I saw that but wanted to make sure no where else. Ok I'm gonna take a look at your leg"

Clark tried to pull up the girl's jeans to better see the cut but the skinny jeans were stuck to the skin from the blood. She pulled her backpack which was still on her back around and fumbled inside for a moment with the girl's green eyes on her. 

"Of course its at the bottom of the bag….Wait….Aha". She pulled out her pocket knife and flipped it open. The girl's eyes immediately got bigger and she tensed up.

"Easy easy. I'm just gonna cut this bottom part of your jeans so I can get to the cut. That's it. Then I can wrap it. Look….see"

She dug into her bag again and pulled out the tiny first aid kit she liked to keep with her and showed the girl the gauze wrap she had. The girl just looked at everything and then back at her and then nodded.

Clark quickly cut a slit along the bottom of the girl's jeans and gently pulled it away from the cut. It wasn't bleeding as much now but Clark could tell it was deep. She would probably need stitches but for now wrapping it was the best idea. She started wrapping it with the gauze trying to be very careful and not cause the girl anymore pain.

"So you are a EMT."

Clark looked up into curious green eyes.  
"Why did you go right to EMT? Most folks assume doctor or nurse when you are good at medical stuff."

"You were like almost knocked out and then suddenly you were right next to me, checking me over even while you were still bleeding. You weren't in shock or phased by the suddenness of everything. I have a friend who is an EMT. The way you leapt into action reminded me of him."

Clark shook her head and smiled up at the girl. This girl had her pegged already.  
"You're right. I have worked as an EMT. Helped give me some cash in med school."

"Doctor and an EMT?"

"No, EMT and almost doctor. Anyway your leg is all wrapped up. I think you can put some weight on it but you really should get it checked out. You might need stitches. "

The girl started to try to stand and Clark immediately stood and helped pull her to her foot. She could tell the girl's leg hurt but she immediately put weight on it and despite her limp walked alone. 

"I think I'll be fine. Thank you for your help."

Lexa pulled out her phone and quickly sent a text to her brother while Clark did the same to Octavia. 

"Listen I am so so sorry about this. Its all my fault and now you're hurt and your bike is banged up and your jeans, man I just cut them up without even checking. Geez I'm sorry. Holy cow its all my fault. I wasn't paying attention and …"

"Lexa" She interrupted the blonde's rambling apologies. 

"Huh"

"My name. Lexa. You asked before when you were in doctor mode and I didn't tell you."

"Lexa. That's a nice name. I'm Clark…which I already said, didn't I? And I'm really sorry about all this." 

"I'm fine. It's ok. No big deal." Lexa was cut off by the roar of another motorcycle as it came to halt beside them. A huge man leapt off and immediately tossed his helmet to the side as he held Lexa at arms length and looked at her. 

"Are you ok? Lexa are you hurt? What happened?"

Lexa pushed him off and gestured first to her leg and then to her bike still buried in the bushes.  
"Yes, little brother I'm fine. It was an accident. My leg is a bit cut but Clark here has patched me up so I'm fine. "  
The giant dude spared half a glance at Clark before turning back to Lexa.  
"Honest I'm fine Lincoln. I was just gonna leave the bike and ride home with you if that's ok?"

"Of course Lexa. Lets go. I wanna get you checked out."

"Yea yea ok." She rolled her eyes at him as she limped to her helmet and put it on before turning back to Clark.  
"Honestly no hard feelings Clark. Looks like you're gonna have a nice bruise yourself. Let's just call it even."

Clark was speechless. First there was this amazingly beautiful girl on a motorcycle. The way she said Clark's name made her heart flutter. Second there was this monster man who shows up out of no where and is her "little" brother. And finally the girl seems to not want to press charges for an accident she was obviously the cause of. Her brain just wasn't processing it all so all she could do was stand and smile as the girl threw a leg over the back of the boy's motorcycle and they disappeared. 

She was still standing there in the parking lot when she heard someone calling her name. She turned and found Octavia jogging up the hill toward her. 

"I leave you alone for like half an hour and you get yourself almost killed. Geez Griffin." Octavia hollered at her as she grabbed her in a rib crushing hug. It was just a statement to all that had happened during their friendship that Octavia didn't comment on the blood on her face. She had told O she had a "little accident" via her text message. 

"Sorry O. I wasn't paying attention and this chick on a motorcycle and well it was an accident. " Clark tried to explain what happened, the really really short version but as usual Octavia interrupted.  
"Damn Griff! That's not a little accident. I thought you were being your usual klutzy self and had fallen down the hill or something. I didn't realize you almost got your self run over!"  
Octavia paused from her rant to take a breath and look Clark over better circling her like she was looking for more damage.  
Clark took her chance to explain a bit more. "I didn't mean to. It was a total accident. I had my head in the clouds and this motorcycle came out of nowhere and the girl got hurt so I patched her up best I could, then her giant-”  
Again Octavia interrupted as though she had just realized something."Wait. Chick on a motorcycle? Dark clothes? Long brown hair?"

"Yea that's right. She had really green eyes. And she didn't even seem upset about the bike. She had a fairly decent cut so I guess that makes sense. But she just left it here." Clark pointed to the bushes a bit away where half the bike was visible.

Octavia's eyes got super big and she whistled.  
"Wow Griff. Leave it to you on your first day to run into Alexandria Woods. Only you Clark. You got a lot to learn. Come on, lets go get you cleaned up. Cause your face looks even scarier than normal."  
That comment earned her a glare from the blonde before they both started back toward the dorm, Clark's mind still on the accident she had caused and the pretty girl who had basically run off.  
Lots to learn indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

Lexa gimped her way into the small brightly lit kitchen doing her best not make her limp anymore noticeable than she knew it would be. Lincoln strolled in right behind her still talking a mile a minute.   
"Lexa you gotto let me take you to the Hospital. You were in a motorcycle accident for christ's sake. You need-“

Lexa jumped in cut him off before he could finish telling her what she "needed", loudly too.   
"No Linc, I don't need anything except for you to hush up before Anya hears you. I am perfectly fine." She started to reach out and lean on the counter, growing slowly more desperate to get the weight off her throbbing leg. She caught herself just in time, still attempting to keep up her tough act. Still Lincoln followed her movements with his keen eyes and knew she was hurting more than she let on.   
"Lex please. I know you said that little blonde chick fixed you up but she isn't a doctor and I don't trust anyone to take care of my sister. Please, if you won't let me take you to see a doctor can I at least take a look at it?"  
Lexa rolled her eyes, more than ready for this conversation to be over so she could disappear into her bedroom and finally sit down and take a good look at her leg. Since right after the accident when Clark had been fixing her cut, she hadn't seen it. To be honest she hadn't paid that much attention even then. She had been distracted by the blonde kneeling in front of her, although if anyone asked she would deny it and blame her lack of attention on the impact from the crash. She really didn't know how bad her leg was. Her strength and her resolve was waning.   
She sagged against the counter and took the weight off her leg. Lincoln raised his eyebrows at seeing her looking so exhausted.   
"Fine Lincoln. You can look at it. Just make it fast and for the love of all things leather do not let Anya see."  
"Deal." Lincoln breathed a sigh of relief at his stubborn sister finally agreeing to let him check her injury. Before she could change her mind or protest his actions, he scooped her up and dumped her carefully on the sagging sofa in the corner. Then he knelt by her ankles and started unwrapping the gauze.   
Lexa glared at her brother and could tell he was avoiding her eyes, concentrating deeply on the wrap around her calf.   
"You know I hate when you pick me up," she grumbled. He just gave her a half smile from his position by her feet. She couldn't even pretend to mad anymore. She hurt and was tired and even the lumpy couch felt heavenly. She settled in and relaxed her stiff and muscles as she let Lincoln work.   
An incoherent mumble broke into her fuzzy thoughts a few moments later. "What did you say? Will I get to keep my leg Doctor?"  
"Ha ha very funny. But seriously I just said that the blonde chick is good."   
Lexa was still drawing herself out of her almost sleep state and so was a bit confused.   
"What? Blonde? Anya didn't find out did she?"  
"Geez Lexa I thought you had fallen asleep but you really are slow when you wake up. No, I'm talking about that blonde girl that was with you when you had your accident. You said she fixed you up. Remember now?" Lincoln asked gently.  
The light bulb went on for Lexa.  
"Ohh Clark. Yea she did." Lexa was immediately lost in memories of the blonde next to her."Well she did good. She made sure and put some disinfectant on the bandage and it was wrapped well.I was impressed"  
"Hmm she said she was an EMT." Lincoln looked up his interest showing on his face.   
"Well, I'd believe it. She did well by you. And I'd really like for you to get a few stitches but it won't kill you not to. It might be more likely to scar and take a bit longer to heal but I know that doesn't mean much to you."  
"You are very right. Scars are badass." Lexa swung her legs off the couch stifling a groan. "So am I cleared to go Doc?"  
"Stop calling me that. And yes you are. You better go get cleaned up before Anya calls us for dinner."  
This time Lexa did groan. "Yea, you're right. I don't want 20 questions from the queen of over reactions" She stated as she stumbled toward the door to the room she shared with Anya.   
Just as she was about to close the door she heard Lincoln call out to her. "Please don't go to sleep yet. Come eat before you lay down. Plus I'm still a little worried about a concussion. You are a bit confused and honestly I'm kinda surprised you didn't tear the girl to pieces for making you crash your bike."

Lexa stopped short. Now that she thought about it, that is what she normally would have done. She loved that bike. She had beaten a kid up just for leaning against it once at a restaurant. But she didn't even think about getting on Clark, even though it was obviously her fault. In her head, Lexa knew why she hadn't confronted the blonde and told her off or worse; she had been distracted by her blue eyes and the way her hair looked in the sun. There was no way she was going to admit that to anyone though, especially when she herself had just realized that she had become so distracted as to alter her normal behavior. Of course her brother thought she had hit her head too hard. She had just had a motorcycle accident that gave her decent cut and possibly wrecked her bike all because of someone's stupidity and she hadn't expressed anger once. 

Lexa rolled her eyes at herself behind the door but just said "Ok Linc but we are still keeping this on the DL. Anya doesn't need to know." Then she closed the door with a snap. 

She limped over to her bed and gingerly sat down before turning on her bedside lamp. Now was the first time since directly after the accident that she was able to sit down and actually take stock of herself and how everything felt. She could feel her shoulder swelling on her left side. That must've been what took the most impact. She flexed her fingers feeling the skin sting where it was red and raw as it moved. She knew she would have bruises all along her body but it didn't seem too bad. Her shoulder would be an issue for a while but she would make do like she always did. Now she slowly used her hands to lift her injured leg into her lap. She eyed the cut and, rolled up blood stained jeans sadly; this had been one of her favorite pairs. Then she took in the neat gauze wrap before slowly beginning to unwind it. Lincoln would kill her if he saw her undoing all his careful work but she had to know. She was just one of those people. She had to have the truth, had to know how bad it was, had to see it for herself. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding when she finally gently finished pulling the sticky gauze away from the gash. It was still bleeding, probably irritated from being unwrapped. It stretched from about half way up the back of her calf around to end by her ankle bone, ugly and red. She knew it was big enough to warrant stitches but she hated hospitals and had lived through worse.   
Just as she finished putting on some fairly clean sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, after re wrapping her calf, the door suddenly burst open. In came Anya, wearing an apron over her usual all black outfit aiming one finger at LExa. For a second Lexa tensed thinking Anya had found out, before Anya put her hands on her hips and started ranting. 

"...Get home and you don't even have the decency to come say hi. Hear from Lincoln you might not be hungry, after I've slaved all day in the kitchen. Well, you see here missy you are gonna come out and eat the dinner I worked so hard on even if you never want to eat again."  
At this point Lexa relaxed and immediately jumped into before her cousin could work herself into a whirlwind.   
"Anya. Anya! I would never skip dinner. Honest. I just wanted to change first. And I'm sorry I didn't say hi to you when I got home. I just had a long day and was dying to get out of my riding stuff." Then she gave her cousin a small grin and waited for the her to cave.   
The older dirty blonde huffed indignantly before turning to exit and finding Lincoln standing in the doorway grinning just like Lexa and watching the girls. Anya threw her apron at Lincoln who dodged it before marching out of the room, mumbling under her breath. Then from the back of the house where the kitchen was came loud banging of pots and pans, followed by Anya yelling. "Hey heathens, dinner is ready. Ungrateful brats, its like I'm your mother or something. Someone else is doing the dishes!"

Lexa and Lincoln just looked at each other and grinned. Anya was their cousin, but she had lived with them as long as they could remember almost. She wasn't much older than Lexa but she had always been the mentor figure. The verbal scoldings were her way of being affectionate and they all knew she didn't mean a word.   
The two shuffled into the kitchen, Lincoln letting Lexa go first. She knew it was so she could lean on him if she needed it and she loved how careful he was with her but she was going to manage on her own. She made sure to take slow measured steps, just fast enough that she could keep the weigh off her hurt leg as much as possible. Anya was already sitting at the little table in the kitchen with a plate of pasta in front of her. She stuck her tongue out at them when they entered.   
Lexa sat down and Lincoln fixed both her and himself a plate. It didn't happen often but Linc was a gentleman and was able to pull it off without Anya even looking up from her food.   
As Lexa looked down at the food she felt guilt bubble in her stomach.   
"Food smells awesome Anya" she said quietly.   
"Tastes better"said Anya through a mouth full of pasta. "I told you I slaved away for hours" the half grin she wore told Lexa that she knew how she was feeling and was trying to make her feel better.   
But Lexa couldn't. She knew that Anya must have used the last bits of whatever she could find in the house to make dinner. The noodles were different styles and textures, and the sauce was more water with a red tinge than anything. She was supposed to have made sure they had money for food. Anya paid for whatever she could with her part-time job while going to Polis with Lexa and Lexa knew she hadn't been pulling her weight lately. A throb from her leg reminded her that it was going to be more difficult than normal to help with the bills.   
Looking up from her half finished plate she tried to put on a happy face and looked over at Lincoln who was now rambling about practice over an almost spotless dish. She slid her own plate toward him.  
"Here Lincoln why don't you finish this. I'm just not very hungry tonight. Too tired I think."  
Lincoln stopped his story and gave her a skeptical look but then took the plate and wolfed it down in under a minute. He was only 19 and had just entered Polis Uni with the other two. He had been large in high school and taken up wrestling. Now he lifted weights regularly and was a bit of a workout nut. He had had multiple offers from universities to come wrestle with them but had taken the offer from Polis to stay near Anya and Lexa. He was huge and dark with rippling muscles and tribal tattoos that showed all along his biceps and chest. He would be pretty intimidating except his smile made him look like a puppy and girls tended to fawn over him.   
The girls always let Lincoln have the lion's share of the food wherever it was tight like this. He probably knew it, but they all pretended he didn't. And he would always make absolutely certain they had had their fill before finishing it off. Leftovers didn't exist in this house. They knew he needed a lot more than he got and tried their best to help him keep up his wrestling form. He never complained or mentioned it though. He happily ate whatever Anya cam up with and had gone hungry before just like they had for a night or two.   
He was back to telling his story with Anya listening and laughing occasionally. Lexa wasn't really listening. She was trying to calculate how she was going to bring in some money and soon. HeAnya told him to go finish off the last plate of pasta in the dish so "...Lexa can get busy washing. She looks ready to fall off her feet and we can't have her skipping out on chores". Lexa grinned at the remark knowing if she was that tired Anya would let her skip but she didn't plan to. She could do this at least. She obviously hadn't been helping as much as she thought she had lately.   
As Lincoln was about to dump the last of the mismatched noodles and pinkish water into his bowl he stopped.   
"Are we expecting any Warriors tonight?"  
Both of them looked at Lexa.   
"No" she answered sharply, "not tonight".   
She was glad of that answer tonight. The food just wouldn't go any farther and they really couldn't afford another mouth with it as tight as it was currently.   
Lexa let her mind drift for a minute to the Warriors, her Warriors. She knew there would be about four of them sprawled over couches and chairs in the garage down the street, the garage that she now owned and had belonged to her father. She thought of the motorcycle parts strewn about and the worn out bodies that were intermixed. She hoped they had eaten tonight. She knew they were often on a tighter budget than her own family.   
She smiled at that. They were here family, all of them. Some just crashed in the garage instead of the house. They were mostly homeless vagabonds whom she had taken in over the years. Some were much older than herself yet still they looked to her. She was the one who got the group together, who owned what had become their home, who taught them to race. She was their commander.   
She was pulled out of her thoughts by Anya telling her to get started on the dishes. Getting stiffly to her feet, Lexa made quick work of the three or so bowls and single pan. After putting away the few dishes, Lexa quickly went toward her room. She could hear Anya and Lincoln in the kitchen and knew exactly what they were doing. Lincoln would be getting out his school books and setting up camp at the kitchen table.He had always been the most studious of the three. Anya would probably have some new book from the library. Usually Lexa would join them with her ancient laptop and they might watch funny youtube videos. Tonight however she was too tired. She trusted Lincoln to keep Anya from pestering her about why.   
As she lay her aching body down on her side of the sagging mattress she shared with Anya, she found her thoughts kept drifting back to the blonde who had taken care of her. She huffed at herself. "Love is weakness, Lexa. Don't go forgetting." She rolled on her side and drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Octavia and Clark headed back to her newly unpacked dorm room. She did not enjoy lugging all her stuff up three flights of stairs in order to reach her room but the view from her window, and the medieval look of the building itself made the work worth it.  
She let Octavia into the small space trusting her to make herself at home and headed fro the hall bathroom to get the dirt and blood off her face. Carefully inspecting herself in the mirror she found the small cut on her chin that had felt the need to bleed copiously giving her the "I just escaped a murderer" look. She gently wiped the crusty blood from her chin with her raw hands and then washed her entire face and all along her arms to clean the multiple scrapes she had earned. "Way to go Clark, not even a day here and you've managed to hurt yourself." Once her reflection in the mirror was significantly less scary, She slipped down the hall toward her room.  
Opening the door she found O lounging on a bed that wasn't hers.  
"O, that's not mine!"  
"I know it's not princess, but yours was covered under a mountain and she isn't here to mind."  
"O don't go using my roommate’s stuff and get her mad at me before I even meet the girl."  
Octavia sat up from the bed and cocked her head at the blonde."Who is your roommate anyway? She wasn’t around all day?"  
"Nope. I haven't seen much of anyone since I got here honestly but I assumed its because I was coming in late and everyone was at class. And her name was something unusual...Robin?...No...Raven! Her name is Raven."  
O scrunched up her face. "Raven...She must not play a sport here, otherwise I'd know her. Hopefully she is a good roommate, although she seems a little weird if you ask me."  
The blonde raised her eyebrows "No one did ask you, you jock. But go head. Tell me how you know this girl is weird without meeting her."  
O stood up and went over the desk in the corner and started rifling through it.  
"O! Stop! You can’t just go through her things!"  
"Chill princess. It’s just the stuff she left out. I'm not opening her mail or anything."  
Octavia stood up smiling over at Clark.  
"See told you. She has random tools all over her desk. She has a copy of some car magazine, and what looks like a dozen screws of different sizes. Ha..hey Clark...reckon she has a screw loose?"  
Octavia waited for her punchline to hit, but Clark crossed her arms and glared at her friend who was already laughing at her own horrible joke.  
"That's not funny O"  
"Come on that was perfect!”  
“If you can quit your laughing for two seconds, I'd like you to help. However Since I know you will get distracted and won't really help, how about you tell me more about this place while I finish organizing." The blonde gave her friend a stern look before turning back to the slightly smaller pile on her bed.  
"Ok Ok," Octavia shrugged and settled herself back on the bed of her absent roommate.  
Clark quickly prayed that O had showered after practice. The last thing she needed was for her roommate to come in and ask why her bed smelled like sweat. Clark could just imagine that conversation and it was one she didn't relish having.  
"You've been to Polis before so you know some of this stuff. This is the Tower, one of the dorms for girls. There is also Herman hall, the Spire a co-ed dorm, and Ford building a guy's dorm. Bell is in that one."  
Bellamy Blake, Octavia's older brother, also attended Polis University as a grad student. Clark had been friends with the Blakes for almost as long as she could remember. It was Bellamy who coined the now famous "princess" nickname.  
Octavia continued on. "Everyone is probably at dinner now in Valhalla which is the student center. The dining hall is on the bottom floor. There aren't many parking places across campus besides from the dorms so be prepared to walk most places. It feels far sometimes but it isn't that bad. The Art building is the building beside the one with the big glass entrance, but I bet you knew that. Art is why you're here after all. Lets see...what else?"  
Octavia paused then snapped her fingers. "Because the campus is surrounded by a nature reserve there are lots of deer on campus. Don't be afraid of them. They are really chill. However they will steal your food if you leave it unattended."  
Clark stared at her incredulously.  
"Seriously! That little bitch stole my cookie!"  
Clark almost fell over laughing both at Octavia's statement and the grumpy look that fell over the girl's face thinking about her stolen desert.  
"Hahahaha" The blonde laughed at the smaller now pouting soccer player. "The deer? Stole your cookie? Haha"  
The brunette couldn't help joining in thinking of how ridicules it sounded, but she didn't play when it came to her sweets which she enjoyed sparingly.  
Suddenly they were interrupted by loud music coming from the pile of things on Clarke's bed. She picked up her loudly protesting phone and sobered up so fast it was like watching a TV screen on fast forward. Octavia was not so put together.  
"Octavia! Octavia shhh. Hush! You have to shut up." the blonde yelped.  
Octavia immediately tried to simmer down smothering the last of her laughter in a pillow. Clark was too preoccupied to notice it was the roommate's pillow.  
Clark answered the phone cautiously and put on a big fake smile that looked almost painful.  
"Hi mom!...Yes, school is going great....of course I'm studying hard." Clarke was almost visibly shaking.  
O looked at her over the pillow with a confused look and started to say something but Clark threw a shirt at her from the pile on her bed.  
"No, I'm not partying...yes I know what's at stake....Yes mom....Yes my entire future, I know..." Clark was taking deep breathes between her words.  
Octavia was getting more and more confused trying to follow this one sided conversation.  
"yes I'm looking for internships at hospitals...yes...yes I'm still doing my EMT job...I know it looks good on a resume...yes...all As...I'm glad you're proud mom..."  
Suddenly it hit Octavia like a bolt of lightening. Her mouth hung open and her brown eyes got huge. If her hair could've stood on end it would've. Clarke must have noticed because she made puppy eyes and put a finger to her lips. Octavia was too stunned to do more than open and close her mouth a few times silently. However as her surprise wore off she started grinning more and more.  
"oh...thanks mom, but you know I have my own money...of course I'm grateful...ok thanks again mom....love you too. Bye" Clark hung up the phone and collapsed onto the mound of clothes covering her bed, hiding her face. She didn't so much as even look at O.  
Octavia sat there a moment and then she said still sporting a small grin, "She doesn't know does she? Your mom doesn't know. "  
Lack of answer from the blonde headed lump on the bed is all the confirmation that the younger girl needs.  
"Holy Shit Clarke you finally snapped and did it! But you didn't tell your mom?!" Octavia jumps up and starts pacing the room."I can't believe it. You finally ditched med school! You've hated it for years. I'm so happy for you. And totally impressed! Badass Griffin, badass." She pokes Clarke in the side.  
"I mean I knew with you coming here that is probably what it meant but geez. I never thought you'd really come honestly. Let alone come in secret. How in the world did you manage it? And all without telling Abby."

Clarke finally stands up and gives her friend a small smile.  
"It was just time, O. We were talking about residencies and how many more years it would take and I was just done. I couldn't do it. Btu I couldn't tell her either. You know how she is."  
Octavia did know. Abby was a great woman but she was a bit blinded when it came to her daughter's choice of career. The older Griffin was intent on her daughter following in her footsteps and becoming a heart surgeon. She was so consumed by this that she failed to see that it wasn't what Clarke wanted to do with her life.  
Ever since her dad had passed away, nothing seemed to phase Abby. She had thrown herself more into work and pushed her daughter harder toward what she was convinced was her dream. Jake had always been Clarke's biggest fan and encourager when it came to her art. While his loss had obviously effected both women, Abby had gone a little overboard in her insistence of Clarke dropping such a fanciful dream of being an artist and focusing on a promising career as a surgeon.

Clark sped on, "So I did it all myself. I applied for here through a PO Box. I took out the loans on my own and paid for everything I could through the money I had saved from EMT work. Its been lots of work. And I hate lying to her but I'm kinda excited. Is that bad?" Clarke gives her friend a small grin.

"No way is that bad. That is awesome. I haven't ever seen you as inspired and happy as when you are doing art. And now you get to do it all that time." Octavia takes Clarke's hands and starts jumping around as she says this causing the blonde to laugh. "We can worry about your mom later. For now let's finish your clothes and go eat and celebrate your first night before living your dream!"  
Octavia drops her hands but keeps bouncing on her toes. Clarke can't help but love the supportive infectious energy of her friend.  
She finally finished organizing her clothes and had cleared off enough space on her bed to sleep. She really needed to clean out her closet but that was a project for another day.  
She let O drag her out to some BBQ restaurant that had according to O, "the absolute bestest fries ever". They weren't half bad.  
Clark had missed being around Octavia. Singing loudly and off-key to the music on the radio, driving around with smoothies and making dumb jokes, just being light hearted. Finally they headed back to campus. Octavia showed her her own room which was also in the Tower. However Octavia was on the first floor with most of the other athletes. She shared her room with a softball player named Harper. Clarke could easily see that two athletes lived here. Posters of sports stars adorned the walls and gym bags graced the floor. Clarke couldn't help but smile. It was just like O.  
Then she trudged her way up two flights of stairs to get to her own much less decorated room. It was still deserted. Clarke decided to stay up a bit and decorate. She began putting up her own posters of a couple of her favorite bands.Then she completed the space by hanging her own art. Soon it felt much more like home. She settled on her bed to watch a few episodes of Netflix hoping her roommate would be home soon and she could at least meet the girl she was to be sharing a living space with for the next year. Soon however she drifted off without having met the elusive roommate.


End file.
